Police: Kidnapping suspect gave baby religious burial'

Police have seized evidence from this Windsor Township, York County, home where Ummad Rushdi had lived with his girlfriend and her 7-month-old son, who Rushdi is suspected of killing. (Photo by Chris Dunn/York Daily Record/Sunday News)

YORK — Investigators seized 30 items from a York County man’s residence, including baby clothing, various electronics, a trunk liner, and two pick-axes, when they served a second search warrant there in their efforts to locate the body of a baby boy, according to court papers.

The search for the body of 7-month-old Hamza Ali continued Wednesday, with suspect Ummad Rushdi continuing to refuse to say where he may have buried his girlfriend’s child.

Additional items and evidence found at the Windsor Township home of Rushdi include a stained towel from the master bathroom, a stain on a wall between the foyer and the dining room, and a small shovel from the guest bathroom, according to court documents.

The search warrant was issued by Judge John H. Fishel and served by York Area Regional Police.

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Rushdi said he gave the 7-month-old boy a proper religious burial, Upper Darby Police Superintendant Michael Chitwood said Wednesday.

Rushdi, a Muslim, made the statement after Hamza’s disappearance on Aug. 4 from Upper Darby. Chitwood would not say to whom Rushdi made the statement.

Investigators believe Rushdi first buried Hamza Ali in Columbia, Lancaster County, in a shallow grave, Chitwood said. They believe he then moved the body to another location on Aug. 5, digging a deeper hole and wrapping the baby in a white sheet.

Chitwood believes Rushdi is using his religion as an excuse not to divulge the baby’s location.

“I think he’s hiding the baby because we can find out what the cause of death is,” Chitwood said.

Chitwood said that a “shaken baby tragedy” defense would carry a far lesser penalty in a criminal trial;however, Chitwood believes that “a willful smothering or beating the baby to death” is a more likely cause of death, based on evidence detectives have collected thus far.

Following Hamza’s disappearance from Upper Darby, Rushdi was charged with kidnapping and other charges. He has not been charged in connection with Hamza’s death, but that might be imminent, Chitwood said.

“We have to get the approval of the (Delaware County) district attorney’s office,” he said. “We feel strongly that we’re there.”

Chitwood said his department planned to meet with officials from thedistrict attorney’s office Wednesday to discuss the case, but also, that he was in no hurry to charge Rushdi.

“I’m not in a rush; he’s (Rushdi) not going anywhere,” Chitwood said. “I want to make sure when we do it, we’re presenting the most tight, all-encompassing case we can.”

The investigation continued at William H. Kain County Park in York and Springfield townships, Chitwood said. Detectives, acting on a tip, think Hamza might be buried there.

Also on Tuesday, police obtained a second search warrant for Rushdi’s Castle Pond Drive residence after the first search warrant for the home turned up a shirt that appeared to be stained with blood and bodily fluid, according to court documents.

The affidavit for the second search warrant issued by Judge John H. Fishel’s court said the shirt and a white blanket decorated with red and blue stripes were found in Rushdi’s room. The shirt, police noted, was in a plastic grocery bag.

Police also noted that a pillowcase was found in Columbia when investigators were searching there on Aug. 8, according to the affidavit. A search dog alerted to an area in the woods not far from the intersection of routes 441 and 30. The pillowcase was found spread out on top of a rock, and the search dog alerted to the pillowcase, a tree stump next to the rock, and directly on top of the fallen branches.

Police later showed the pillowcase to Zainab Gaal, the mother of Hamza. Gaal said the pillowcase belonged to Rushdi and that it was from his Castle Pond Drive residence, according to the affidavit.

Police also showed Gaal the blanket they recovered from Rushdi’s room at his Castle Pond Drive residence. Gaal, according to the affidavit, said the blanket belonged to baby Hamza and it was with him at the Upper Darby residence before he went missing.

Police indicated in court documents that they intended to search the residence and the land outside of the residence for evidence related to the kidnapping.

Gaal told police that when she woke about 10 a.m. Aug. 4, Rushdi, her baby and a Lincoln Continental belonging to Jawwad Rushdi, Ummad Rushdi’s brother, were gone from the house, according to court documents.

Police said Jawwad Rushdi told her Ummad Rushdihad taken the baby to Gaal’s parents’ house in Maine. But on Aug. 6, Jawwad Rushdi told her that Ummad Rushdi told him he’d killed Hamza and buried the baby’s body, police said.

In court documents, police say Jawwad Rushdi told them that Ummad Rushdi said that when Hamza would not stop crying early Sunday morning, he picked the baby up and shook him. Hamza became unconscious. Ummad Rushdi told his brother that he attempted CPR but couldn’t revive the baby, documents state.

Ummad Rushdi then took the child from the home and buried him, documents state.